COVER STORY

Saturday

13

October , 2018

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Rao Inderjit Singh, Minister of State for Defence, recently said that 62 contracts had been signed for the Indian Navy, 79 for the Indian Army, and 41 for the Indian Air Force. The different defence equipment in the contracts included missiles, rockets, ships, tanks, aircrafts, and guns.

The country is moving towards modernisation and focusing on upgrading its military equipment and hardware. It is encouraging the participation of private players in this segment and companies like TATA, Reliance, and Mahindra have collaborated with the Indian defence sector.

Important Defence Deals

Boeing-Tata Advanced System Ltd.

Boeing’s equity joint venture in India was a result of their partnership with Tata Advanced System Ltd. (TASL) in 2015. They decided to work jointly in order to manufacture defence equipment, which included Unmanned Arial Vehicles (UAVs). It was planned in order to counter terrorism along with weather-mapping for agricultural needs. The work officially began on 2016 and was completed in 2018. TASL is already working with Lockheed Martin and Airbus for the same. The deal marks TASL's manufacturing Boeing CH-47 Chinook and AH-6i helicopters. The commercial supply is expected to start with the AH-64 Apache combat helicopters by the end of 2018.

Reliance-Russia Deal

The India-based Reliance Naval and Engineering Ltd. has been named as the offset partner for the S-400 Air Defence System deal with the Russian government. The Indian and Russian governments have decided to work together to develop the S-400 Air Defence System, the Kamov 22 6T choppers and for construction of a number of naval frigates. The Reliance-controlled Pipavav shipyard has been selected by the Russian government for manufacturing these Talwar class frigates. The deal is expected to exceed $3 billion, making it the biggest warship building project ever. The delivery of these ships would need around eight years.

Mahindra Deals

Mahindra is one of the prime stakeholders in the defence sector. It is presently part of three major deals, which include Airbus Mahindra deal, Mahindra-GE Aviation deal, and Mahindra- Ultra-Electronics deal.

Airbus Mahindra deal: The Europe-based company Airbus has signed a deal with Mahindra Defence for manufacturing military helicopters. Airbus has planned on setting up a manufacturing unit for supplying a total of 111 naval utility and 123 multi-utility helicopters to the Indian Navy. The total cost would be around $15 billion.

Mahindra-GE Aviation deal: After signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GE Aviation in 2014, both have moved forward with their agreement for manufacturing aero-structures for the Indian military.

Mahindra- Ultra-Electronics deal: Mahindra Defence Naval Systems and Ultra-Electronics, a British defence company, have a MoU for manufacturing radios and underwater warfare equipment for the Indian navy. It is expected to boost the domestic production.